different stages of development in young horses, but what is normal?

Charla said:
yes horse is now rising 4, June is his birthday. He is now under saddle for gentle hacking. He has a nice forward walk, the trot is very backwards and has no power Whatsoever. Again, a weak baby thing? He does regular in hand stuff, poles, long reining, occasional short lunge session, and then hacking. The worst he has done is trip under saddle. Doesn’t feel wobbly, just extremely weak and not forwards in the trot.
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mine, who I had as a foal, was born very late May. Last year he was nearly 4, we backed and started riding him and he was dreadful. Slow, unco ordinated under saddle, terrible down hill, just a total baby. Didn't look weak but certainly not that good for the breed type.
We have now started again he is 5 in a month's time. Totally different horse. Mentally much older, bodywise far more solid and, lo and behold, he can walk down hill, walks out very well with a really long stride for his size and shape.
Very different and for him 5 is obviously the age at which he is going to make it into being a horse.

He needed to be 5 to do this, yet I have had 3 yo's who could do it yet in his case he was a dreadful weak 3yo.

If the vet didn't see anything obvious and unless you want to spend lots on him I would just turn away and let him get on with growing up. Perhaps try him again in the Autumn. I don't think you can rush growing up for some horses.
 
I don't think falling over is normal. On the other hand the condition of a dominant one in the herd may well be better than that of the underdog so that is not necessarily unusual. Of course animals are very good at spotting weakness and hounding others for it, so if he does have problems it may explain his place in the herd also. Given where you are though, he clearly is not yet up to more work and education. I would turn him away for 6 months then try again. I wouldn't worry about more vet tests now and would only pick that up if he is still very backwards when you bring him back at the end of the year. Of course make sure he is kept properly wormed and his teeth done and he is well fed, hopefully that goes without saying.
 
My gelding fell over a few times including turning on tarmac while being led when he was young. You could always see exactly why it happened though as it was mainly him being a tit and overcooking his turns when racing about the field. He is a bit more cautious now and doesn't 'motorbike' quite so much when he's pratting about.

The tarmac one I feel guilty about as I *knew* that patch was slippy, so i should have either turned him in a bigger circle or waited for gripper footing.

OP - When your horse fell, was there a good reason for him losing balance?
 
Meowy Catkin said:
OP - When your horse fell, was there a good reason for him losing balance?
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Unfortunately I will never really know. I wasn’t there, he was being turned out by staff with another horse. All I know is that both horses spooked dramatically, and then mine went down completely. He looks as though he has caught his hind hoof at some point as he has marked it. There are terrible skid marks on the concrete where he went down and also his hair from his legs.
 
It being related to a big spook is actually a bit reassuring to me. Far better that than he was walking in a straight line and just went splat for no reason.

I would still keep an eye on him and definitely call the vet if you are worried again in the future but I wouldn't press for huge investigations right now with that extra bit of information.
 
I'd go for a cautious but see how you go approach too. Skylla was so weak and so clumsy as a youngster!

She is still behind her peers even now at 8, but some concentrated core/ strengthening work last year helped a lot once she was mature enough to do it. If Covid hadn't scuppered plans I think she would have really blossomed this year with more lessons and getting out more.

Equally I did have one vet tell me she was bilaterally lame, though another agreed with me that she was just weak. I am super, super paranoid with her now, and partly why I've taken so long with her is just 'in case' I push her too much and break her...
 
Thank you all for your replies and help. I will continue to monitor him and look out for any concerning signs. Probably will get a second opinion once Covid is over.
 
Another one who had a week and wobbly 3 year old who had no clue where her legs should go - she fell over twice as a result of spooking slipping not concentrating -once with me on board - luckily I broke her fall ?

She wasn't able to canter in a circle on the lunge properly until she was going on 5.

First pic at 3
Second at 8

I would get her looked over as previous people have suggested - for peace of mind at least.
 

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I have a now 5 year old gelding. Had him from the breeder at weaning but didn’t break him until end of his 4th/start of his 5th year. Mentally and physically he was so immature still and couldn’t use his brain and his feet all at the same time! I think they all develop differently and some just need more time. He is now 5 and we have only just started backing him properly, he is not very forward but is getting there, just takes him a little bit longer to compute before listening to my aids. Good luck with yours, sounds like perhaps just a slow developer :-)
 
HashRouge said:
There may be no sinister reason behind it, but it may also be worth getting the vet to have a look at him. I'd also worm him.

My old YO rescued two 18 month old Welsh cobs from a sale about 10 years ago, they were in very bad condition when she got them. One of them picked up very quickly and blossomed into a beautiful young horse very quickly. The other took much longer to develop and she did think there might be something wrong with him. But by 5 he was also a lovely looking, strong, healthy youngster. I think he was just slower to develop.
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Agree re worming or a worm count, I find Westgate Labs very good. another neuro test is to get someone to lead him forward in walk and you take hold of his tail standing at the side of him (away from the hind legs) as he walks forward you pull his tail firmly. He should brace against you, if he falls over I would speak to a vet.
 
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